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Anéla-AVT PhD Dissertation Prize▲

Every year, the Dutch Linguistic Society (AVT), the Dutch Society for Applied Linguistics (Anéla) invite an independent jury to select the best linguistic PhD dissertation that was defended at a Dutch university in the past year. In recent years, the prize winner has been announced at the festive Language Gala (part of the Dutch Annual Linguistics Day [Grote Taaldag]).

This year, too, the AVT/Anéla PhD dissertation prize was awarded. All PhD dissertations defended between July 16, 2023 and July 15, 2024 were eligible for the AVT/Anéla PhD dissertation prize 2024.

Nominations for candidates for the prize were accepted until September 1, 2024.

The secretary of the jury is Dr. Sterre Leufkens (on behalf of the AVT board). The second secretary is Dr. Gudrun Reijnierse (on behalf of the Anéla board). For more information about the AVT/Anéla dissertation prize 2024, please contact Sterre (s.c.leufkens@uu.nl) or Gudrun (w.g.reijnierse@vu.nl).

More information: Regulations AVT/Anéla PhD dissertation prize 2024 [in Dutch]

Winner AVT/Anéla PhD dissertation prize 2024

The AVT/Anéla dissertation prize for the best linguistic dissertation of the past year (2024) was awarded to Gosse Minnema for his dissertation on the way in which perspectives on socially important events are expressed in language.

The Anéla/AVT dissertation prize is awarded annually to the author of the best linguistic dissertation defended at a Dutch university in the past year. Gosse Minnema (University of Groningen) won the prize for his dissertation Perspective matters: event framing in language and society. Using Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods, Minnema investigated how socially relevant events are framed in newspaper articles. The jury was impressed by the interdisciplinary approach of this dissertation and by Minnema’s engaging and personal writing style: he succeeds in making complex concepts accessible, even for readers who are not familiar with NLP. The refreshing and original structure of the dissertation draws the reader into a compelling story of four years of PhD research. Read the full jury report here: Juryreport AVT Anéla dissertation prize 2024.

This year’s jury members were Susanne Brouwer, Lettie Dorst, Myrte Gosen, Gerrit Jan Kootstra, and Silvia Terenghi.

The three nominated candidates were:

  • Marie Barking
    A usage-based account of language transfer: A case study of German speakers in The Netherlands (pdf)
  • Kristel Doreleijers
    Styling the local: Hyperdialectisms and the enregisterment of the gender suffix in the ‘new’ dialect of North Brabant (pdf)
  • Gosse Minnema
    Perspectives matter: Event framing in language and society (pdf)

The prize was awarded during the festive Language Gala, at the end of the Grote Taaldag on 31 January 2025 in Utrecht.

Previous winners PhD Dissertation Award

  • 2023: Suzanne Bogaerds-Hazenberg, Universiteit Utrecht, Text structure instruction in Dutch primary education: Building bridges between research and practice
  • 2022: Alex Reuneker, Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, Connecting conditionals: a corpus-based approach to conditional constructions in Dutch
  • 2021: Ulrika Klomp, Universiteit van Amsterdam, A descriptive grammar of Sign Language of the Netherlands
  • 2020: Imme Lammertink, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Detecting Patterns: Relating statistical learning to language proficiency in children with and without developmental language disorder.
  • 2019: Luis Miguel Rojas Berscia, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, From Kawapanan to Shawi: Topics in language variation and change.
  • 2018: Tessel Boerma, Universiteit Utrecht, Profiles and paths. Effects of language impairment and bilingualism on children’s linguistic and cognitive development.
  • 2017: Kobie van Krieken, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, Linguistic viewpoint in crime news narratives: Form, function and impact.
  • 2016: Barend Beekhuizen, Universiteit Leiden, Constructions Emerging: A usage-based approach of the acquisition of grammar.
  • 2015: Koen Sebregts, Universiteit Utrecht, The Sociophonetics and Phonology of Dutch r.
  • 2014: Hans Rutger Bosker, Universiteit Utrecht, The processing and evaluation of fluency in native and nonnative speech.
  • 2013: Titia Benders, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Nature’s distributional learning experiment: infants’ input, infants’ perception and computational modelling.
  • 2012: Mark Dingemanse, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, The Meaning and Use of Ideophones in Siwu.
  • 2011: Sander Lestrade, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, The space of case.
  • 2010: Anna Kijak, Universiteit Utrecht, How stressful is L2 stress? A cross-linguistic study of L2 perception and production of metrical systems.
  • 2009: Margot Rozendaal, Universiteit van Amsterdam, The acquisition of reference: A cross-linguistic study.
  • 2008: Brigitte Pakendorf, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Contact in the Prehistory of the Sakha (Yakuts). Linguistic and genetic perspectives.
  • 2007: Tamás Bíró (Universiteit Groningen), Finding the Right Words: Implementing Optimality Theory with Simulated Annealing.
  • 2006: Sonja van Boxtel: Can the late bird catch the worm? Ultimate attainment in L2 syntax, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, 2005.
  • 2005: Bert Botma: Phonological Aspects of Nasality: An element-based dependency approach. Amsterdam, 2004.
  • 2004: Elma Blom: From root infinitive to finite sentence. The acquisition of verbal inflections and auxiliaries. Utrecht, 2003.
  • 2003:  Dirk-Bart den Ouden: Phonological encoding deficiencies in conduction Aphasia; Groningen, 2002
  • 2002: Onno Crasborn, Phonetic Implementation of Phonological Categories in Sign Language of the Netherlands. Leiden, 2001.
  • 2001: Ineke van de Craats, Conservation in the acquisition of possessive constructions: a study of second language acquisition by Turkish and Moroccan learners of Dutch; Tilburg, 2000.
  • 2000: Joost Dekkers, Derivations & Evaluations: on the syntax of subjects and complementizers . Amsterdam,1999.
  • 1999: Jürgen Bohnemeyer: Time relations in discourse. Evidence from a comparative approach to Yukatek Maya. Tilburg 1998.
  • 1998: Anastasia Giannakidou: The landscape of polarity items . Groningen 1997.
  • 1997: Ad Backus: Two in one: bilingual speech of Turkish immigrants in The Netherlands. Tilburg 1996.
  • 1996: Marc van Oostendorp: Vowel quality and phonological projection. Tilburg 1995.
  • 1995: Paula Fikkert: On the acquisition of prosodic structure. Leiden 1994.
  • 1994: Jan-Wouter Zwart: Dutch syntax: A minimalist approach. Groningen 1993.